Politicians fail to pay attention

Obama hit by jabs on jobs, Oct. 6

It is good to read that experts have confidence in the integrity of data produced by U.S. and Canadian statistical agencies. I never doubted it.

The real problem is that politicians don’t pay attention to the foreign trade data coming out of these agencies. The U.S. foreign trade deficit in manufactured goods is $600 billion per year. The corresponding Canadian figure is substantially higher on a per capita basis at $92.4 billion for 2011.

These numbers sound an alarm equivalent to the alarm for a five-alarm fire, as they express the whole cause of our terrible jobs and economic situation. There is only one way to improve this situation and that is to tell each foreign country that we will accept imports only up to the level of that country’s purchases from us.